There's one in particular Labour is refusing to budge on - Māori seats, which Mr Peters wants to hold a referendum on over whether to abolish them.

Labour won all seven seats this election in a landslide victory and Jacinda Ardern hasn't ruled out walking away from Mr Peters if he sticks to his guns.

"We've already shared our view on that, that's an issue for Māori voters and as we've said, we think the Māori seats serve an important role in New Zealand," Ms Ardern said outside her post-election barbecue.

Attending were a number of fellow party members including deputy Kelvin Davis and finance spokesperson Grant Robertson.

And for a while, the gates were opened and media were allowed a glimpse inside. Digital campaigner Andrew Burns shared a photo of what things looked like from the other side of the freshly-painted fence.

2:37pm: To recap, 61 seats are needed to form a Government. It all comes down to who can convince Winston Peters they're the best party for him to work with.

2:31pm: Outgoing NZ First MP Richard Prosser says Winston Peters will be likely to side with the left, if the three parties can make it work.

He had been third on the party list before being bumped down to 15th, and won't be making it back into Parliament.

He told Newshub Mr Peters left space for Labour and the Greens while campaigning.

"This country has indicated there is a mood for change, and propping up a fourth-term Government - or even a third-term Government - generally hasn't worked out well for smaller parties."

2:10pm: Jacinda Ardern says there are "conversations to be had" after the tight election results last night, but there's no rush.

"Mr Peters in particular wants to take a bit of time, that's something I completely understand," she told media outside a post-election BBQ.

With several hundred thousand special votes yet to be counted, Ms Ardern says the impact it has will be "incredibly interesting", but she's not ready to predict what results it could have.

"But I'm hopeful we'll see a bit of a lift out of them."

She reiterated Green Party leader James Shaw's comments from last night, saying: "A majority of people have voted against the status quo."

Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford.
Photo credit: Newshub.

1:15pm: Jacinda Ardern is having a chilled-out BBQ at her place in the Auckland suburb of Pt Chevalier. She might not have put Labour over National in the party vote, but she stomped home in the Mt Albert electorate seat, defeating Melissa Lee by almost 12,000 votes.

She'll be talking to media very shortly.

Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson.
Photo credit: Newshub.

1:10pm: She might not have 'won' the election, but Hamilton is still proud of Jacinda Ardern.

1pm: The AM Show host Duncan Garner says the next three years are likely to cement Winston Peters' legacy.

"This not the end, it is not the beginning of the end, it is just the end of the beginning," he tweeted. "Awesome night talking to young people about TOP."

With the yet-to-be-counted special votes likely to favour the left, TOP could get a few tenths of a percent more but it would take a miracle for the party to reach the 5 percent threshold.

11:20am: David Seymour doesn't expect NZ First to let him join a coalition between them and National.

"If I was New Zealand, they'd probably actually want us to be in Government because it'll be one fewer people attacking them. But nevertheless, I expect they'll exclude us," he told The Nation's Lisa Owen.

"You ran a first past the post campaign in an MMP environment, and things suffer for that, and I'm just grateful we survived. I always knew this was going to be one crap campaign the way things were shaping up."

Meanwhile, Metiria Turei says she'll never quit politics, even if her Parliamentary career is over for now.

Mana got 0.1 percent of the vote - far below its 2014 result of 1.4 percent, as part of Internet Mana (Mana did better than its old partner however - winning 2775 votes to the Internet Party's 464).

10:45am: The chances of both NZ First and ACT's sole MP David Seymour propping up the National Government's fourth term are as remote as ever.

"The ACT party there on three-quarters of a million dollars a year, the most expensive beneficiary in the whole country... The other day he said he'd take one for the team. Take one for the team - he's only one. What team would that be? Why don't you guys stop writing crap and start writing reality."

10:40am: Winston Peters is sad to see the back of Te Ururoa Flavell, who's signalled his retirement from politics after losing his seat.

But the NZ First leader has a theory on why he "went down".

"Te Ururoa Flavell is a marvellous New Zealander. He's the classic kind of person you need ion this country a million-fold. But I think some of his political ideas were mistaken… it's trash for Māori. It won't help Māori, and that's why he went down."

Winston Peters.
Photo credit: The Nation

10:30am: James Shaw says "a lot of things would have to change" if the Greens were to form a coalition with National.

He hasn't spoken to Bill English nor Labour leader Jacinda Ardern yet, but is keen to hear what Mr English has to say.

National can't form a Government without either the Greens or NZ First. But it's not looking likely it'll be the Greens.

"I have spent the last 18 months saying we are campaigning for a change of Government," Mr Shaw told The Nation.

"We've got three very big priorities which are completely contrary to the way National has been running the economy."

He believes the Nats can change however, saying under Bill English, they're a different party to what they were in the days of Jim Bolger and Robert Muldoon. He said Mr English has learned a lot in the past 20 years, and has New Zealand's best interests in mind.

10:25am: National MP Judith Collins has called the Māori Party's obliteration from Parliament "awful".

"No doubt they achieved more for Maori in a decade than any other party did in a century," the Papakura MP tweeted.

10:20am: Labour's Phil Twyford says he can't rule out a referendum on the Māori seats.

"I have no mandate to say that now," he told The Nation host Patrick Gower.

NZ First has said a referendum is a bottom line, and Labour needs NZ First if it's going to form the next Government.

"I can't say that now and I won't... all of those issues are going to be on the table."

Labour's policy is to keep the seats. It won all seven on Saturday.

Mr Twyford's comments come after Labour deputy leader Kelvin Davis said Labour would fight "every step of the way" to stop a referendum on the Māori seats.